The Predator’s Contract Partner

Chapter 25.2

“……I don’t do that.”

Elisha unknowingly glared at Lucerne with an uneven sullen look. He smiled more clearly this time.

“Don’t sleep in your underwear the night I get back. I think it’s going to be urgent.”

Elisha nodded her head. It was embarrassing……There’s nothing you can’t do if you’re going to take it off anyway. Lucerne was expressionless again, deciding to cease teasing her.

“I put the letter on the table. Give it to the butler.”

“Yes.”

“You can do the rest as the butler tells you.”

Elisha nodded her head and looked at Lucerne quietly.

He caressed her back as Elisha stared at Lucerne.

“See you in the capital,”

Elisha spoke in a composed tone. There was nothing more to say. Lucerne nodded his head. That was the end of the farewell.

***

“Please come this way. I’ll take you there.”

Numerous aristocrats flocked to the gate, but when Elisha appeared, the staff made a separate way.

‘They say we have to wait a few days to get permission to use the gate once.…. I can’t believe I’m using the entrance exclusively for the royal family.’

Elisha was on her way to the capital before anyone else through the entrance to the gate exclusively for the royal family.

Elisha’s carriage was escorted by blank-looking knights. They seemed displeased, perhaps because they were excluded from important missions.

Only Nora cared about Elisha, but she wasn’t one to talk much and was as quiet as her party.

***

It took less than two days to reach the capital. Elisha gazed out of the carriage’s window, studying the capital and compared it to the capital she saw in her previous life. It was still crowded and bustling.

Jacob spent half of the year in the capital and half of the in the dukedom. So when she first came here, it had been because of Jacob, Elisha forgot where she was and opened her mouth. She wondered if there was such a busy place in the world.

“This is it.”

The coachman stopped the carriage. Elisha slowly opened the wagon door and got off.

‘This is Lucerne’s mansion.’

The golden fields of the capital. In the middle of the most expensive land in the Empire, there was a mansion with a large garden. A road leading to the Imperial Palace in front and to the side was a road that ran through downtown.

It was an unusually old mansion, as was the case with the expensive houses in the capital. Originally, the white building had turned into an off-white, cream color.

The brass front door opened. Elisha glanced at the wall of the mansion where the golden ivy was growing.

From now on, it was the place for her to nest.

***

“I greet Lady Elisha. From now on, inside the mansion, we’ll call the Lady, Ma’am, and whoever we meet outside will address you as Lady.”

An old butler stood in front of the mansion. He looked upright and orderly. He referred to Elisha as Lady.

‘Lady Elisha…….’

Originally, Count[ess] Lor was correct [t1v: this seems like a genderblind term inferring she’s the head].

But the title would be now used by the inheriting son-in-law, Lucerne. It was a marriage deal to trade titles.

Although General itself was not a title, the community would address her as Lady as to respect to his wife. According to the social order, it was a label just below Duchess.

The butler guided Elisha into the house.

“It’s late, but congratulations on your marriage. I’m the butler of this family. Please tell me if you need anything.”

The butler said his name was Anri. Elisha was relieved that his impression was softer than she initially thought.

Traditionally the hostess led the family, so there would be a lot of work to do with the butler in the future. An arrogant butler occasionally would ignore a weak hostess, but Anri didn’t seem like that.

‘Besides, I heard that Anri is a retired knight.….’

Lucerne was also well-known for recruiting many employees with odd careers. Rumor has it that Anri was once nicknamed an executioner that had neither blood nor tears.

“I’ve prepared a bed for the knights as well.”

“…….”

Corinne with a disgruntled countenance and Lapis with a stiff uneven jaw brushed past Elisha without saying goodbye. Only Nora paid a silent acknowledgment. All this time they didn’t say a word to Elisha.

“I guess they are upset that they couldn’t go to the battlefield. But now that the Lady has arrived, it’s an important duty to protect the mansion.”

At Anri’s words, Elisha nodded silently. It was Lucerne’s job to order the knights, not hers.

Only then did Elisha survey around the house. And what Elisha felt was turmoil.

‘Why is the house like this?’